Rooney: I've not shirked England duty

Wayne Rooney has released an image of the head injury he sustained in training to dispel doubts over his commitment to the English national team.

Rooney missed Manchester United's 1-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday as a result of the wound, with manager David Moyes saying he expected the striker to be out for "a few weeks" and that he thought he had "no chance" of representing his country in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine.

The forward then used his official Facebook page to release an image of the injury - sustained in an accidental collision with Phil Jones - to illustrate the extent of the problem.

"Some people seem to be questioning my commitment to the England squad and the fact I had to pull out of the 2 games," Rooney stated on Facebook. "There's nothing I would like more than to be helping the lads in the qualifiers. I'm sure people will see from these images the reason why I won't be able to play."

England have a number of injury absentees for the games against Moldova on Friday and Ukraine on Tuesday, including Jones and Liverpool defender Glen Johnson.